Sweden testing electric trucks on wired roads

The Swedish Transport Administration is working on two test projects involving heavy-duty trucks that receive electricity from the road. Well, not something built into the asphalt, but something up above. On a stretch of highway E16 in Sandviken, there’s a test project that involves an energy-collecting device on the roof of a truck that connects to an apparatus that’s about 18 feet off the ground. Think of electric light rail cables. The test project runs for about a mile and a half, says Green Car Congress. The system feeds 750 volts DC into the truck’s hybrid system, while the stretch of road includes posts that are about 200 feet apart. The special trucks can connect at speeds as fast as 56 miles per hour. The testing system was slated to go online on Wednesday and is operated by a partnership between Scania and Region Gävleborg. Take a look at the press release below.
Another program is located near Arlanda, about 35 miles north of Stockholm, according Trafikverket, the Swedish Transport Administration. That project involves an electric rail inside the roadway. The program currently has its own dedicated lane, but will be in traffic next year and will be tested through 2018.
While these programs are merely for testing purposes, they’re part of a broader effort to have Sweden’s heavy-duty truck fleet free of fossil fuels by 2030.
Electric-road testing is nothing new in Sweden, of course. Volvo has been working on an electric-road system since last year in the form of a bus line given the oh-so-clever name of ElectriCity.

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